Ernest Hemingway

An early role model for the young Ernest Hemingway was the sports
journalist Ring Lardner. Once out of high school Hemingway himself became
a journalist, and he used an objective journalistic style throughout his writing
career.
Ernest Miller Hemingway was the first son and the second child born to Clarence
Edmonds "Doctor Ed" Hemingway, a country doctor, and Grace Hall Hemingway.
While his mother hoped that her son would develop an interest in music,
Hemingway adopted his father's outdoors hobbies of hunting, fishing and
camping in the woods and lakes of Northern Michigan. The family owned a house
called Windemere on Michigan's Walloon Lake and often spent summers
vacationing there. These early experiences in close contact with nature instilled in
Hemingway a lifelong passion for outdoor adventure and for living in remote or
isolated areas.
At school he excelled both academically and athletically; he boxed, played
football, and displayed a particular talent in English classes.
After high school, young Hemingway did not want to go to college. Instead, aged
eighteen, he opted for a writing career as a junior reporter for The Kansas City
Star. However, after only a few months in the role he tried to join the army. He
failed the medical examination due to poor vision, and instead joined the Red
Cross towards the end of World War I in 1918. On his journey to the Italian front,
he stopped in Paris, which was under constant bombardment from German
artillery. Instead of staying in the relative safety of his hotel, Hemingway tried to
get as close to combat as possible.
In July of that year, he was wounded by a mortar fragment. The Italian government
later presented him with a medal for dragging a wounded Italian soldier to safety in
spite of his own injuries.
After his return to the United States, he became a reporter for Canadian and
American newspapers and was soon sent back to Europe to cover such events as
the Greek Revolution.
During the 1920s, he lived in Paris with his first wife Hadley Richardson, working
as a foreign correspondent. He was eventually introduced to writer Gertrude Stein,
who became his mentor and led him to join the American expatriate circle that
became known as the Lost Generation - which he described in his first important
work, 'The Sun Also Rises' (1926).
After Hadley became pregnant in 1923, the Hemingways left Paris and moved to
Toronto, where he wrote for the Toronto Daily Star and waited for their child, John
Hadley Nicanor Hemingway, to arrive.
The family soon returned to Paris, with Hemingway determined to make a name
for himself. Between 1925 and 1929, he produced some of the most important
works of 20th century fiction, including the landmark short story collection 'In Our
Time' (1925) which contained 'The Big Two-Hearted River'. In 1926, he published
'The Sun Also Rises', followed by 'Men Without Women' in 1927. Two years later,
he published 'A Farewell to Arms', arguably the finest novel to emerge from World
War I. In four short years he went from being an unknown writer to being the most
important writer of his generation, and perhaps the 20th century.
Hemingway divorced Hadley Richardson in 1927 and married Pauline Pfeiffer, a
fashion reporter. The couple moved to Florida the following year to begin a new
life. However, Hemingways life would take a tragic turn shortly after, when his
father committed suicide.
His second son, Patrick, was born later that year with third son Gregory coming
along a few years later.
In 1937, Hemingway travelled to Spain in order to report on the Spanish Civil War
for the North American Newspaper Alliance. The war put a strain on his marriage.
His wife Pauline was a devout Catholic and, as such, sided with the fascist, pro-
Catholic regime of Franco, whereas Hemingway supported the Republican
government.
Shortly after Francos Fascists took power in Spain, Hemingway returned to
Florida and was divorced from Pauline. Hemingway married his companion of
four years in Spain, Martha Gellhorn, his third wife. His novel 'For Whom the Bell
Tolls' was published in 1940. The book, which takes place during the Spanish Civil
War, was based on real events and tells of an American named Robert Jordan
fighting with Spanish soldiers on the Republican side. It was largely based upon
Hemingway's experience of living in Spain and reporting on the war. It is
considered to be one of his most notable literary accomplishments.
During the Second World War, he worked for the resistance movement in Paris.
After the war he moved to Cuba, where he lived until he was forced to leave in
1959 after Fidel Castros Communist revolutionaries took power. 'The Old Man
and the Sea' was written and set in Cuba, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953.
His overall achievement as a writer was acknowledged when he won the Nobel
Prize for literature in 1954.
Sadly, Hemingway suffered from manic depression (bipolar disorder), and had
been treated with electroshock therapy. Hemingway blamed these sessions for
disrupting his memory. Following an unsuccessful attempt in the spring of 1961,
he committed suicide a few months later. He was 61.